Love In the time of covid

Chapter 15

Once Chris and Giselle straightened out their clothes and fixed their hair, they headed to the kitchen again to make the drinks they excused themselves for 20 minutes ago. He grabbed another beer, and she made a mixed drink of vodka and pink lemonade.

All eyes were on them as they joined everyone else outside on the patio.  Both looked down at the ground with guilty looks on their faces as they went their separate ways. Giselle joined the ladies at the lounge couch and Chris went to the grill with Jackson and Scott.

Giselle sat next to Trina and took a much-needed drink of her cocktail, avoiding everyone's gazes. "It's a beautiful day, isn't it?" She asked with an awkward chuckle as she attempted to direct the attention away from herself.

"It is. It's nice to be with actual people after so long." Shanna said as she winked playfully at Giselle, silently letting her know she can relax.

"Oh, my goodness, I know. I'd thought we'd back to our normal lives by now." Trina added. "I've run out of shows to watch on Netflix."

"Right! Though Tiger King was a real gem. Days of fun." Carly Joked from her seat.

"That bitch, Carole Baskin." Giselle imitated the famous Joe exotic making the other 4 women laugh at the famous tagline.

"I can see why Chris likes you." Carly admitted while moving her sunglasses down from the top of her head.

Giselle looked down shyly, attempting to hide the blush creeping up on her round cheeks. "I like him a lot too, and Jeremy is crazy about him."

"I can tell he cares about you too. It's been a long time since I've seen him look at someone that way." Lisa admitted with an all-knowing grin. "Tell me more about yourself, dear."

"Hmm..." Giselle sputtered as she finished another sip of her drink. "Well, I grew up in Boston, with my mom. It was just me and her since I was 10. She owns the Sun Rise Café downtown and I step in to help her when I can. I've been friends with Trina here for the past 12 years." She said as she smiled and nudged her friend's shoulder before continuing. "I work as an assistant for her in her real estate office. I read a lot; I own way too many books but that's actually why I met Chris. I also dabble in my own writing when inspiration hits just for fun. And of course, my son Jeremy is the biggest part of my life." Giselle finished, crossing her legs comfortably and smoothing out her dress over her lap.

"We tried that café a little before the pandemic started. The food was amazing." Lisa complimented, grinning politely across from her. "I remember Chris was very distracted that day."

"My friend Jillian told me that, but I just thought she was just imagining it." Giselle confessed bashfully.

"As you well may know; a mother notices everything about her child." Lisa stated with an affectionate smirk.

"You're in deep, aren't you?" Scott asked his brother rhetorically and he interrupted Chris's distracted state as he watched Giselle laugh with the other women.

"What do you mean?" Chris asked feigning ignorance, turning his attention back to the grill and flipping over the chicken and burgers that were nearly done cooking. "Obviously I care about her if I asked her to be my girlfriend."

"No shit Sherlock but you're head over heels. That's also obvious." Scott accused, raising his eyebrows knowing he was right.

"Yeah dude . I haven't seen you with a woman this much since Minka." Jackson chimed in as he finished off the beer in his hands.
"Normally you've would've retreated by now."

Chris grinned before looking down at the ground blushing to himself. He couldn't deny that he was beginning to fall in love with the amazing woman that he ran into by chance nearly 3 months ago. "Giselle is..." He searched for the right words to describe how he felt about her. "She's one of the great ones. I can feel it."